Grim
by MagicGoddess2001
Summary: A re-imagining of the classic Fairy Tale.
1. Chapter One

This is set in an alternate reality of sorts; in this story, you'll find aspects of old Germanic settings, with a few aspects of modern society, with the purpose of creating more rounded and independent characters that would not be feasible in a historically accurate story.

Mirror, mirror. Mirror, mirror. Mirror, mirror!

No response. None, not since she let that monster live. But she couldn't help it, it was a child. Not innocent, but still a child. But age didn't matter. If it did then she wouldn't be wearing a circlet or a gown that could buy every life the Roteisen family took. If it did she wouldn't be living in a den of beasts. If it did she wouldn't be sitting on the floor, in tears, alone, abandoned.

Henriette Grim was tired. She always was, but today she was significantly more tired than usual. Today was the fifth birthday of the first and only princess of the Roteisen royal family. It was a rather callous display for a birthday, given the child's mother wasn't yet cold in her grave. One month. That's all it took for the mourning of the queen to end. And Grim knew it was only a month because the queen died the full moon, and tonight the very next full moon the king threw a lavish festival for a toddler, a toddler who wouldn't remember the next day. She shouldn't complain, with the catering job she had for the event she would make more money than she would normally make in months. Thoughts of gold pieces kept her going as she was elbow deep in flour and dough.

"Grim, child, that's enough the dough is kneaded enough, go get the fillings for me," Henrietta, Henriette's mentor, called over her shoulder. To Henrietta she was Grim. To everyone she was Grim, and she didn't mind it that way. The last time she was called Henriette was when she ran from the brothel she had been born in when she first bled. After that, she had become simply Grim. She now, seven years later, had become an apprentice baker for a very successful bakery and was in line to take over the business from the childless couple who had first taken her in.

Wiping her arms on the apron, Grim went to get the pre-pureed apples and black cherries for the pastries. When she came back Crow was in the room. Crow her best friend since she came to this village, the boy, she realized somewhere in the years, she loved, the now man that had no clue that she would marry him in a heartbeat if he asked. She hadn't realized she was staring until he flashed a bright smile her way.

"Hey, Miss Grim, I have the white flour you ordered." Right flour, baking, flour, party, focus!

He had two sacks thrown over his shoulder like it was nothing, and for a moment she wanted nothing more than to be that flour.

"I swear, you get bigger every time I see you, I don't know how your family feeds you. You're old enough to be married by now," Henrietta said from behind him, pointing to the barrel she wanted the flour in.

"I know ma'am, my mother tells me every day. I'm just waiting for a woman who can handle me." He looked at Grim as he said it, and she wasn't sure if she should be elated he looked at her or depressed that he didn't say her name.

"Although, while I'm here, I would like to ask if I could borrow Grim for the festival tonight, after the delivery of course," Crow asked. Grim rolled her eyes and nudged him with her shoulder but inside, she was over the moon.

"If she finishes these last few batches of pastries I'll be happy to let you have her. Be back before midnight, the moon will start to set after that, and it's improper for the two of you to be out in the dark." The moon here was so bright here that when it was full, it shone like the sun, and it would be at its highest point around midnight. But that meant six hours with Crow, to just enjoy themselves.

"Wait, Crow, would you mind chaperoning Grim to the palace. I was going to go with her but it would make it much easier for me to finish the batches faster if you could go in my place. You'd need to wash up and be presentable. Grim also needs to wash up and look presentable, I won't have you representing my business in your work clothes," she hollered over her shoulder as the two had already begun to leave.

"I'll take her, no worries Mrs. Henrietta," Crow reassured her with a coy grin the at she had come to love over the years.

Grim stood in the palace kitchen feeling very overdressed in her olive green dress and her hair cascading down her back. The royal chef had lead Crow away to help unload pastries, leaving Grim among the women dressed in appropriate work attire for a kitchen. She wasn't sure how it happened, but somewhere along the way she had been ushered out of the kitchen and into the halls of the palace. The palace, where, she was sure she was not supposed to be, especially alone.

In a blur, a mass barreled into her, knocking her to the floor.

"You old maid! Just what do you think you're doing?" A young boy's voice yelled and he dug through her skirt, presumably to look for something he dropped, but that didn't mean anything to Grim as she picked the boy up by the scruff of his neck as she stood up.

"How dare you, you whore! Just who do you think you are, just what do you think you are doing?" the boy yelled hurling expletives Grim had only heard in sketchy bars and brothels.

"Listen, you welp! You come crashing into crashing a lady, digging up her skirt, and spewing such terrible things, who do you think you are?" Grim countered, setting him on his heels, interrupting his protests. "I don't care who you are, you do not dig through a woman's skirt." Grim scolded, her fist still wrapped around the back of the boy's collar.

Looking at him, you could tell he was some noble's brat, which would have been a problem for Grim if she wasn't in the palace. No noble in their right mind would dare harm a member of the staff of the Roteisen castle. That right was reserved for the Roteisen family alone. It was a twisted system but it was convenient in this instance.

"Boy, you had best leave before I personally hand you to your family myself," a low voice rumbled; she could be mistaken but he sounded amused. She turned and immediately regretted it.

Standing before her was none other than King Brandeis of house Roteisen, the king of blood and iron, smiling down on her. No- not smiling- it was more of a callous smirk; a smile would indicate some semblance of happiness, the king was simply curious, unfortunately for her. The boy was smarter than she was and had slipped out as fast as he could.

"Little fox, you don't belong here, so I must wonder why you are in my castle causing trouble?"

"My king. I humbly apologize for the commotion. I am not a member of the castle staff, I became lost after making a delivery to the kitchen," Grim said as she curtseyed as formally as she could.

"The kitchen is down the hall, on the left. You'll hear it before you see it." He was gone when Grim lifted her head. She wasn't sure if she should feel relief or concern that the infamous king had left her in peace so easily.

She hurried down the hall, and as sure as the king had said, Grim heard the clanking of metal and shouting of maids before she reached the door. When she entered the maids all stared, as if they had been looking for her. The small one, she must have been about ten, blanched and ran. What had she seen that had her so worked up?

"Grim, I've been looking all over for-," Crow stopped.

"What, do I have something on my face, why are you looking at me like that?" Grim prodded, trying to mask her rising anxiety with annoyance. Crow grabbed her arm and all but carried her back to the cart outside.

"Seriously, what are you doing, why are you acting so strange?" Grim asked, pulling on Crow, trying to get a response. Crow turned to her with dark eyes and a stoic look on his handsome face. His hand brushed the spot where here neck met her shoulder, and she froze. She had heard rumors, people blacking out, waking anemic. It inspired horrific rumors around the royal family. But she hadn't blacked out, and how would anyone know. No one came back with open wounds or any sort of evidence.

"There are two little scars right here. Bite marks."

"That doesn't make any sense, nothing happened," Grim tried to argue, "And there wouldn't be any sort of marks if what you're implying happened."

"Not unless he's marking you."

That's all for the intro, if you have any questions or comments let me know. It's a bit open ended intentionally so you can let your imagination run wild.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Crow pulled the cart over soon after they passed the palace gates.

"Stay here, I'll be back soon," Crow said, handing Grim the reigns. The look on his face was teasing but his voice was monotone and concerning. Not exactly angry, but somewhere past concern.

Crow headed off, but before he made it a few meters he briskly turned back to her.

"Here take this," he called up to her, tossing his cloak to her. He had strutted off down the hill before she could ask why.

After what seemed like an eternity, Crow came jogging up to the cart.

"About time, I was beginning to think you left me,"

"You know I would never leave you." Grim had been teasing, but the candidness in the tone of his response had made her chest tighten.

"Hold still, it would be a pain to explain to anyone who saw your neck." Grim didn't know if he realized he was whispering in her ear. Or maybe he did, and he was just an ass. He had a nice ass. Wait what, no, Grim, no!

She felt a silky strip brush against her neck and realized what was going on. Crow had wrapped a satin ribbon around her neck a few times in a way that covered the small marks on her neck and tied it in the back.

Then the bastard had the nerve to brush her hair behind her ear and smile at her.

Was he really so dense to not understand how she felt about him, how the simplest gestures made her heart race? It really was quite unfair.

It only took a half hour to reach the bakery and inform Henrietta of the delivery.

"Alright, alright you both did well, but I mean it, back before midnight now, you hear!" Henrietta called as the two had already begun running out the door and to town square to join in the festivities.

Crow had taken her by the hand as they raced off like young lovers. As they approached the square Grim heard the band playing a dancing song and before she could recall the name of the tune Crow had whisked her into a dance. Damn this man.

He had the broadest smile across his face. He had very nice teeth, nice enough that they were rather renowned among the women in town. Especially when compared to the other bachelors in the village, Crow generally stood out. Thankfully for Grim's sake, he had never taken interest in the other girls beyond a few pre-arranged dates, which he had vented to her about the same night. That said, have you ever been one of those dates? Her inner voice was obnoxious sometimes. Other's failure isn't your victory girlie. A fact she was well aware of. But currently it was her waist his hand was on as they danced and spun about.

The night flew by, dancing, snacking, laughing, and shopping. Crow was happily chewing through a thick caramel layer on a candied apple while a young girl braided Grim's hair with small iron beads. The girl had clamped a small black feather into one of the beads, and while Crow had teased her, she secretly adored the memento.

The moon was nearing its peak, and the pair began the trek home, breaking apart just before Grim's home.

Before he left, Crow reached down and tucked a small braid behind her ear.

"I really do like that crow feather on you." Before Grim could respond he had bent his head to rest on her shoulder. He kissed her shoulder gently, and then pecked just below her ear.

"Crow, I," Grim started.

"Am I wrong?" Crow looked at her with wide eyes, like a puppy learning to beg. She didn't even realize that she had pulled crow in by the collar and back to kiss her.

She could feel the sparks flying around them. She felt a hand come up her back and the other gently hold the back of her head. Her arms wrapped around him and hugged him close, not believing what was happening but refusing to let go regardless.

Her heart was racing, and when the kiss broke, their foreheads met, and the pair couldn't help but laugh.

"How long have you been waiting to kiss me," Grim asked, the sudden kiss giving her the confidence to be direct with him.

"Three years ago. I got thrown off that horse and you came running up to me laughing. I pretended to be hurt, and you panicked and when you figured it out you cried and yelled at me. From the moment you cried for me I wanted to kiss you so badly, to wipe away all your tears, and stay with you forever." Crow had spoken with such certainty and clarity, Grim's chest fluttered about.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Grim. Sweet dreams." Her stomach was rioting over his words. Her lovesick stupor was interrupted by Henrietta calling for her to come inside already. She turned around and Crow had vanished into thin air. Was he as nervous as she was?

Grim tread up the stairs to her little room above the kitchen. She plopped onto her bed and took a few breaths and smiled so hard she couldn't stop. She couldn't stop thinking about her kiss with Crow.

After changing into her nightgown, Grim sat on her bed brushing out her hair, removing the braids and beads. She had been careful to remove the crow feather, and it know gingerly sat on the table next to her bed next to the small pile of iron beads.

The full moon was still high and cast plenty of light throughout the room, making it hard for Grim to drift off into sleep. She had taken to counting the bricks in the wall to bore herself, but her mind kept coming back to the excitement of the night. Eventually, she lost track around brick two hundred and forty-four, and nodded off.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryann Elizabeth LoCascio

Dr. Benko

RES- 104- B

26 February 2020

Contractualism and Decency

_The ethical theory of Contractualism encourages people to be decent and allows them to lead a decent life. In order to operate within any social contract theory a level of decency must be assumed in order to comply with the theory and aid future cooperation. _

The ethical theory of Contractualism is entirely dependent on the adherence to hypothetical social laws and relies on the assumption that the individual will live a decent life and make the morally correct choice within a specific social contract. [word vomit? Also look at the crash course videos because fuck] [Uses Gauthier quotes?] ["we may represent such a practice as capable of gaining unanimous agreement among rational persons who were choosing the terms on which they would interact with each other. And this agreement is the basis of morality." (646 Gauthier) in modern English this means in order to work and associate with other within a society, individuals bust behave within specific parameters to ensure cooperation and inclusion within the society. And in layman's terms, don't be an ass or you will get kicked out of the pack.

[(3) define decency] Decency, as defined by [insert garbly gook, get quotes from decent life book and cite] [just use the book, make contrast altruism?]. This ethical approach allows for some degree of a moral holiday, for example, for every trashy romance novel three "woke" novels are required; this specific ration having been provide by Dr. Steven Benko in a class lecture. "This might strike some as moral mediocrity (30, May), meaning doesn't hold one to a high enough moral standard but in actuality by lowering the moral pole vault, more people are encouraged to jump who at higher levels of morality may have written off altruism as unobtainable, but in decency, as altruism, you don't have to be perfect , so go forth and read your porn]. In decency you are not asked to give up your own next free action in order to assure the greatest benefit for every other person. ["to ask that I sacrifice things that make my life meaningful in order to assist others in their quest for a meaningful life is actually treating my life as less worthy than theirs. May16] This outlook, in essence, defies a primary principle of human equality that most moral codes operate within, and then cannot be justified as a reason to do something.

Because of the assumptions made in Contractualism that people will cooperate with one another for mutual benefit, decency is at the very least assumed and further is promoted as a means of further collaboration and maximization of outcome of the parties involved. So not only does Contractualism allow people to lead a decent life, it also encourages individuals to do so.

[(5) closing paragraph rehash thesis and close]

{works cited in MLA}


End file.
